Christopher Robinson

Background

Christopher Robinson was born on 15. 05. 1806 in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. He was the son of Benjamin Robinson and his wife, Ann (Pitts).

Education

He was sent to a private school and thence to Brown University, where he was graduated in 1825.

His personal inclinations were toward a career in which success would depend upon powers of speech: in education, religion, or the law.

After his graduation he engaged for a time in academy teaching, and then read law under Senator Albert C. Greene.

Career

After his graduation he engaged for a time in academy teaching, and then read law under Senator Albert C. Greene. He was admitted to the bar in 1833, and made his appearance in public life the same year as Fourth-of-July orator in Woonsocket, where he had settled. A Universalist, he preached for the Universalist society before the completion of their meeting-house in 1839. In 1847 he was prominent, though unsuccessful, in an effort to link Woonsocket to Boston by a railroad. His political ambitions were rewarded when he was made attorney-general of Rhode Island, 1854-55. He was elected to the Thirty-sixth Congress (1859 - 61), where he voted for John Sherman for speaker and was a member of the Judiciary Committee and of the select committee of thirty-three on the "state of the Union. " His sentiments were strongly antislavery and pro-Union. He was not returned in the election of 1860, but on June 8, 1861, was appointed minister to Peru by President Lincoln. This was an important, even critical, post, for diplomatic relations had been suspended in November 1860 by President Buchanan, and there were many partisans of the Confederacy in Lima. Robinson presented his credentials January 11, 1862, and with patient persistence and unruffled temper urged upon dilatory and changing ministries the settlement of the claims of American citizens. He yielded to the Peruvian contention that the two most controversial cases should be submitted to arbitration (which was never effected, since the King of the Belgians declined to act as arbitrator), but he obtained the satisfactory settlement of the other claims by means of a mixed commission. He also won Peruvian sentiment over to the Federal government, turning to his advantage Peru's fears of European aggression, of which he offered Mexico as an example. When these fears were realized in 1864 by Spain's seizure of the Chincha Islands, he exerted himself to assure Peru of the active sympathy of the United States. Robinson's mission was terminated in a peculiar manner. In July 1865 he received an instruction from the Department of State that his resignation had been accepted. He replied that any document purporting to be his resignation was a forgery, but that he was ready to retire. The investigation which followed involved the secretary of the legation, who was recalled. A new minister arrived in November, and Robinson's last important official act was to assemble the diplomatic corps at the legation (he was acting without instructions), where it was resolved to recognize a revolutionary government which had just overthrown the old. Robinson left Peru on Dec. 21, and returned to private life in Woonsocket, January 16, 1866.

Connections

He was thrice married: to Mary Tillinghast, by whom he had one child who died; to Mary Jencks, who had no issue; and to Louisa Aldrich, to whom four children were born. Robinson did not enter politics until after the death of his third wife, in 1853.

He lived quietly and in comfortable circumstances there until his death at the age of eighty-three.

Wife:

Louisa

He was married to Louisa Aldrich, to whom four children were born. Robinson did not enter politics until after the death of his third wife, in 1853.

Wife:

Mary

He was married to Mary Jencks, who had no issue